EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF PROBIOTICS ON FUNCTIONAL CONSTIPATION: A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS

Existing literatures of Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) were reviewed in the study to ascertain the efficacy and safety of probiotics for functional constipation. Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, and Clinical Trials.gov databases were searched for controlled trials from the earliest record in each database to October, 2017. Stool frequency, stool consistency and the incidence of adverse events were analyzed as endpoints. Seven RCTs involving 450 patients met the inclusion criteria. The endpoints include stool frequency, stool consistency and the incidence of adverse events. Compare with placebo used, probiotics associated with higher stool frequency compare with placebo used in functional constipation patients (SMD = 0.97; 95% CI = 0.31-1.64; P<0.00001; 12 = 89%) after 4 week treatments. There are no difference between probiotics and placebo used in functional constipation patients on stool consistency (SMD = -0.22; 95% CI = -1.40-0.96; P <0.00001; 12 = 96%) and adverse events (RR = 0.87; 95% CI = 0.65-1.14; P = 0.72; 12 = 0%) after 4 week treatments. Probiotics can increase the stool frequency of patients of functional constipation compared with similar adverse events and stool consistency versus placebo after 4 week treatments.